Professor Michelle Ryan

About me:

Michelle Ryan is a Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology. She is involved in a number of research projects. She currently holds a European Research Council Consolidator Grant examining the way in which context and identity shape and constrain women's career choices (with Thekla Morgenroth, Chris Begeney, and Renata Bongiorno) . With Alex Haslam, she has uncovered the phenomenon of the glass cliff, whereby women (and members of other minority groups) are more likely to be placed in leadership positions which are risky or precarious. Research into the glass cliff was short listed for the Times Higher Education Supplement Research Project of the Year in 2005 and was named by the New York Times as one of the ideas that shaped 2008. Click here for a brief video introduction to the glass cliff.

Michelle is also involved in projects examining (a) gender trouble and the gender binary (with Thekla Morgenroth); (b) women's ambition in the workplace (with Kim Peters and Alex Haslam); (c) the role of identity in understanding work-life balance (with Kim Peters, Thekla Morgenroth, Floor Rink and Janka Stoker); (d) men's support for gender equality (with Antonia Sudkaemper, Teri Kirby, and Thekla Morgenroth); (e) gender differences in risk taking (with Thekla Morgenroth and Cordelia Fine); (f) leadership succession (with Nik Steffens, Floor Rink, and Janka Stoker); (g) workplace intersectionality (with Victoria Opara and Ruth Sealy); (h) the gendered nature of ambition (with Sabrina Spangsdorf and Teri Kirby); (i) workplace gender stereotypes (with Renata Bongiorno and Colin Leach); and (j) gendered status in the workplace (with Chris Begeny).

Keywords: gender inequality, gender discrimination, gender differences, glass cliff, workplace inequality

Interests:

Michelle is involved in a number of research projects.

With Alex Haslam, she has uncovered the phenomenon of the glass cliff, whereby women (and members of other minority groups) are more likely to be placed in leadership positions which are risky or precarious. Research into the glass cliff was short listed for the Times Higher Education Supplement Research Project of the Year in 2005 and was named by the New York Timesas one of the ideas that shaped 2008.

Michelle is also involved in projects examining

(a) the effectiveness of role models (with Thekla Morgenroth and Kim Peters)

(b) women's ambition in the workplace (with Kim Peters and Alex Haslam);

(c) the gender wage gap (with Clara Kulich);

(d) social identity and sexuality (with Chris Robus);

(e) the impact of metaphors (with Susanne Bruckmueller),

(f) leadership succession (with Nik Steffens, Floor Rink, and Janka Stoker,

(g) the social identity of unemployment (with Pamela Bretschneider & Thomas Kessler),

(h) identity complexity (with Thomas Morton and Anders Sunderlund),

and (i) identity and disabiltiy (with Stuart Read and Thomas Morton).

(i) a social identity analysis of coping with unemployment.